Tag: Travel

Travel

Touristing in the motherland … and Tom Hanks (Brazil 2019)

Travelling back home to my motherland, Brazil, has never been an easy undertaking and this occasion was no exception. But this time I had a friend with me who didn’t speak Portuguese. You know what that meant? I got to skip out on lengthy family visits because “my friend really wants to go see…” I made guilt free complicated requests at restaurants because “my gringo friend doesn’t like…” And I asked stupid questions about my own heritage at tourist attractions because “my friend—who’s a bit daft—wants to know more about…” Although blaming everything on her was a huge perk, the […]

Travel

What if someone has to identify our bodies in Panama?

Allow me to sum up my twelve-day road trip in Panama using a sample of dialogue between my son and me. “Liam, where are we supposed to turn?” “Riiiiight… HERE! Turn now! Now now now!” I blink. “Too late, you missed it.” My twenty-year-old son and I clocked 1000 kilometres of sometimes lit and labeled and mostly smooth Panamanian roads. I know what you’re thinking. “You’re brave!” I know you’re thinking this because it was the reaction I got from most everyone I told that we were taking a road trip in Panama. They looked at me with puzzled admiration […]

Travel

Sweden & Denmark, I loved you both but I’ll never do you again in the winter

It was a snowy January day when she asked me, “Wanna go to Scandinavia for the weekend?” “But it’s winter there!” I protested. “It’s winter here, too. What’s the diff?” I shrugged. She had a point. “Fine. I’ll go.” Moments later, six girls booked a flight. When I would mention to friends where we were going, I’d laugh and bat a hand when they made requests for Swiss cheese and Swiss chocolates and even recommended that I buy a watch. Clearly, they hadn’t grown up watching the Swedish chef on Sesame Street like I had and therefore were unaware of […]

Travel

Getting high on Asia

Like many travel industry people, getting a new stamp in my passport is my addiction; a high I chase each time I go away and an overwhelming urge to keep travelling to maintain that feeling. After my ‘trip’, I return home with a killer hangover (jetlagged) and trying to recall whether or not I actually did all that travelling or if I dreamt the whole thing up. Asia is still all a blur and the twelve hour time difference between there and home kicked my ass. But now that I’m back to sleeping and my high has subsided, I’m eager […]

Travel

Volunteering in Vietnam – Leave for Change

At first, I was hesitant about applying for the Leave for Change program (L4C) because I didn’t think I had the skills for the job postings. So when I received the call that I had been selected for an interview I was screaming on the phone and jumping around like a lottery winner. That marked the beginning of a life-changing journey. I was accepted for a mandate with the World University Service of Canada (WUSC). I would be working in the travel and hospitality sector as an advisor at Bac Thang Long College (BTL) located in Hanoi, the capital of […]